WNBA hires Deloitte CEO as president, sources say

The WNBA has a new president, a little more than a week before the season starts.

By Doug Feinberg The Associated Press

May 15, 2019 - 8:49 am

FILE - In this Sept. 20, 2018 file photo, Deloitte CEO Cathy Engelbert participates in the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit: A World of Change at The Times Center in New York. A person familiar with the decision says Engelbert will be the new WNBA president. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, Wednesday, May 15, 2019, because the league hasn't publicly announced the hiring. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

NEW YORK — The WNBA has a new president, a little more than a week before the season starts.

The league has hired Deloitte CEO Cathy Engelbert, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the league hasn’t publicly announced the hiring.

Since 2015, Engelbert has been CEO of Deloitte US, an accounting organization that works with Fortune 500 companies.

She replaces Lisa Borders, who stepped down in October. NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum has been the interim president since Borders left.

It’s been an active offseason for the league, which begins its 23rd season on May 24. The WNBA announced a deal with CBS earlier this month to broadcast 40 games on CBS Sports Network. The WNBA also signed AT&T as a top sponsor, added new uniforms by Nike and rebranded itself with a new logo. The league also had a promotional tie-in with the highly successful “Captain Marvel” movie in February and oversaw the sale of the New York Liberty to an investment group led by Brooklyn Nets minority owner Joseph Tsai.

The WNBA also promoted Christin Hedgpeth to chief operating officer in February. She had been filling that role on an interim basis.

Engelbert played college basketball at Lehigh under current Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw. She was also on the school’s lacrosse team, serving as captain of both programs. Engelbert becomes the fifth president in league history following Val Ackerman, Donna Orender, Laurel Richie and Borders.

One thing the new president will have to deal with relatively quickly is the collective bargaining agreement. The players opted out of the current contract at the end of last season. This season will still be covered by the current CBA.

The 21-year-old from Notre Dame and the top overall pick in the WNBA draft had 16 points on 7 of 10 shooting in her first professional game, a 79-75 exhibition loss to Minnesota at Cox Pavilion on Sunday.